Barclays shares have a spring in their step
While they've not yet hit the target levels set by independent analyst Alistair Strang, shares in the UK bank are not far off their highest in 18 years. Can they do better?
12th January 2026 07:49
by Alistair Strang from Trends and Targets
Despite a pretty impressive rise since our mumblings on 8 December, Barclays (LSE:BARC) has failed to achieve our target levels, though a recent high of 493p definitely qualifies for a “close but no banana” award.
- Invest with ii:Open a Stocks & Shares ISA | Top ISA Funds | Transfer your ISA to ii
The movement above our trigger level at 445p has certainly been steady, but also providing a worry that world events shall somehow conspire to short-circuit the strong rise potentials, as while Israel has dropped off the ‘panic’ screens, Venezuela and Iran have conspired to jump into place. Along with Greenland, of course.
Immediately, our expectation for Barclays remains of movement above 493p bringing a visit to an initial 505p with our secondary, if bettered, at 517p.
The very close proximity of these target levels broadcasts an expectation some sort of glass ceiling awaits in the 505-517p range sometime soon, this despite the Big Picture now claiming a future 600p is exerting a distance influence.
For everything to go wrong, the price needs to collapse below 390p to make us panic.
Source: Trends and Targets. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Important: Trends and Targets charts only incorporate official share count consolidations, ignoring rights issues where investors have a choice as to whether to participate.
Alistair Strang has led high-profile and "top secret" software projects since the late 1970s and won the original John Logie Baird Award for inventors and innovators. After the financial crash, he wanted to know "how it worked" with a view to mimicking existing trading formulas and predicting what was coming next. His results speak for themselves as he continually refines the methodology.
Alistair Strang is a freelance contributor and not a direct employee of Interactive Investor. All correspondence is with Alistair Strang, who for these purposes is deemed a third-party supplier. Buying, selling and investing in shares is not without risk. Market and company movement will affect your performance and you may get back less than you invest. Neither Alistair Strang or Interactive Investor will be responsible for any losses that may be incurred as a result of following a trading idea.
These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.
Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.